Once we have a change of heart we must have a change of mind. In other words you and I must be willing to change and accept change when it happens. Willingness is a decision we make based on information.  Like wineskins we must be willing to immerse ourselves in God's truth, we must allow Him to repeatedly stretch us and work in us so we become willing, soft, and flexible. God you change my heart, you help me to see the big picture.  Now I make the decision to get my eyes off of myself and set my mind to change.  I am willing to follow your passion and purpose for humanity and for my life. It’s saying God it may be uncomfortable, but it is a choice I am making to allow you to stretch my thinking.  It may mean leaving some old traditions behind, you may have to accept people who are different than you are, or it may mean taking a new direction in life.  It will most certainly mean going against the status quo, the sway of "they", whoever they are.  Whatever it is we must make the choice to change. You and I must be willing to change. The third level of change is in our behavior. Like Nike said, "Just Do It!"

It doesn’t matter how willing we are, if we do not DO IT, there will be no change We must not only be willing we must put action to it.  Jesus said it best, "... a wise man puts it to practice."  The difference between a wise man and a fool is defined in his action. Anything that is not accompanied by action is dead.  We must do more that talk about the need for change. We must take it to the next level.  We must Dive in. What is God asking you to change.  Are you ready?  There are great things ahead of us if we are willing to "dive in" and make the change.  Change is in the air. "JUST DO IT"

How do we cope with the winds of change? I believe change must be dealt with on three levels. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.” This verse speaks to the three levels of man.  The heart or the spirit of man, the mind which is our will, the action which is our body.  All change must take place on these three levels;  1.     Change of Heart – purposed to change 2.    Change of Mind – willing to change 3.    Change of Behavior – action.  Let's look at this first one - Change begins with “ passion”.  It begins with a purpose greater than ourselves and our traditionalism. Change begins in the heart. Traditions in and of themselves are not bad but Traditionalism says: This is the way we’ve always done it and we are going to keep doing it that way.  It supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time. There is always tension between tradition and innovation. Anytime we step out to do something there will always be tension. In the parable we read earlier Jesus was saying patching an old coat with a new piece of cloth, and putting new wine into old wineskin's both show the result of unresolved tension.   Tension tears a bigger hole in the old coat, when the coat gets wet and the new material shrinks.   Tension caused the old wineskin's to rupture, when the new wine begins to ferment and swells up inside the bag. Life means change, but change is uncomfortable.  So there is tension between our traditions, the way we do it, which is comfortable, and becoming innovative in doing something different. When our faith is about us we can become narrow minded in our tradition and fail to see the bigger picture.   Remember this change involves you, but it is never about you. Jesus was continually encouraging his disciples to lift up there eyes and get a different view.  Why?  Because most of us live with our head to the ground focused on the same old same old.  God is always moving forward, and the only way I know to do that is to get your head up.  Sometimes we have to let go of our but(t) and go with God.  Does it take courage?  You bet it does.  Does it produce tension?  Every time. To change we must first be willing to have a change of heart, then we must have a change of mind... that's the next blog. 

Yesterday I begin to talk about this word change. When you stop and think about it the whole ministry of Jesus was about change.   He was endeavoring to move people from the old way of coming to God to the new way.  Every time Jesus turns around, someone is picking on Him or criticizing Him because he isn’t doing things the way they’ve always been done.  Then he tells the parable of the patched garment and new wine-skins. What is the lesson?  The time has come for God’s people to breakout of their boxes; the stereotypes of what they think it means to be godly, and allow the kingdom of God to work in new ways. I happen to love a good inspirational movie, particularly if it centers around football.  Remember the Titans, is a true story about a town that finds itself in the middle of racial turmoil.  Coach Boone is clearly irritated by his team’s attitude.  He assembles all of the players in order to put the work ahead in its proper perspective.  What is needed is change. In one turning point in the movie Coach Boone looks at his players.  He does not see what they are, he sees what they can be.  What they require is fundamental change.  It will require discipline, hard work, an undoing of past behaviors, and a commitment to a new way of thinking and acting.  I believe that God is continually challenging the church to be willing to change.  People are looking for the real deal in the church.  If we are willing to change our approach in reaching people, God will honor us.  Let's face it, we don't live in the days of Ward and June Cleaver.  Life is full of change.  The only way that I know to stop change is to stop living.  Change is inevitable.  If change is a way of life then the question is what must you and I do to move forward when we meet change?  How do we cope with the winds of change?  We will answer that tomorrow.... 

Looking to build or strengthen your Character muscles?  Here are some exercises... TO AVOID:

Jumping to conclusions

Passing the buck

Grabbing the credit

Throwing your weight around

Stretching the truth

Bending the rules

Breaking your promises

Putting your self first

Stepping on others

Dodging your duty

Running your mouth off

Lingering on your faults 

If you don't expect anything good to happen, then you won't be disappointed when it doesn't.  This avoidance of hope is a type of protection against being hurt.  Disappointment hurts!  So rather than be hurt again, many people simply refuse to hope or to believe that anything good will ever happen to them.  This sets up a negative lifestyle. Everything becomes negative because the thoughts are negative. The children of Israel got exactly what they believed.  They couldn't see themselves in the promised land, therefore they didn't possesses it. The Bible says, they brought back a negative report. They displayed an attitude that came from a wrong mindset.  It is easy to see from their own words that the Israelites were not trusting God at all.  They had a negative, failure attitude.  They decided they would fail before they ever really got started, simply because every circumstance was not perfect. Positive thoughts are always full of faith and hope.  Negative thoughts are always full of fear and doubt.  Being positive is not the absence of negative surroundings, it's simply choosing to see a continual hope in the promise of God. You may have had a miserable past, you may even be in current circumstances that are negative and depressing.  You may be facing situations that are so bad it seems you have no real reason to hope.  Times like these are when our attitude is most important.  The psalmist David continually pours his heart out to God, but David always comes to the place when he realizes that God is His only hope.  It's as if mid-stream he has an attitude adjustment regarding the circumstances of life that surround him. We can never judge things accurately by the sight of our eyes, and the sound in our ears.  The Israelites continually looked at and talked about the way things were.  God brought them out of Egypt, talking to them about the Promised Land.  He wanted them to keep their eyes on where they were going - and off where they had been.  Thet couldn't see past their own wilderness mentality.  Hey life happens to all of us, but we must choose to believe the promise of God and see the goodness of God in the land of the living.  When the children of Israel got to the promised land a second time, after a whole generation died, God told them to not talk. I wonder why?  Sometimes we just need to shut-up and march!!!